Tear strip guides



April w, 1955 W. s. RATH TEAR STRIP GUIDES Filed April 15. 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States This invention is a guide for use in connection with that type of container made of metal or other frangible material provided with a tear strip to be removed by application thereto of a slotted key upon which the strip is wound when it is desired to open the container.

This type of container is now widely in use particuatent O larly for the accommodation of foods and other materials 1 to be maintained hermetically sealed, but frequently in the key winding process, the strip removed from the can in coil formation becomes disaligned, either causing the strip end to become disengaged from the key, or the builtup spiral or coil becomes snarled to such extent as to render useless any further attempt to proceed with the winding operation. In other instances, further attempts to rotate the key result in breaking the removed strip, thus making it impossible to have clear access to the contents of the container without resort to other opening means. Furthermore, the torn strip usually presents sharpened edges which are likely to cause cutting of the hands in carrying out the opening operation.

in'order to properly open containers of this kind it is necessary that the key be maintained at all times at true right angles to the tear strip, also to maintain the coil in true upstanding position as it increases in size during the winding operation.

The guide of my invention is designed to be associated with the ordinary or well known slotted key so as to maintain the key body at right angles to the tear strip and to insure the coil or reel of the winding band against falling to one side or the other as it progressively increases in diameter during the winding operation.

My improved guide is of very simple construction, may be manufactured at low cost, is of such construction as to permit its ready application to tear strip cans of the character heretofore described, which will permit the winding key to be readily applied thereto and which is of such character as to enable the fully wound coil and its key to be readily detached therefrom at the conclusion of the can opening process, which does not require special knowledge or skill in its use, and which will prove highly practical and efiicient in the accomplishment of the purposes for which it is designed.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all as will be described more fully hereinafter, illustrated in the drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

in the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of a conventional can of the tear strip kind and showing as applied thereto a guide constructed in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the guide removed from the can and drawn to a slightly larger scale,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through the guide,

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view showing a slight modification of one end of the guide,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic fragmentary top plan view of a can to illustrate the curvature of the guide body with respect to the side of a can,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of a slight modified form of guide, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken longitudinally through a further modified form of guide plate.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, 6 represents the top of a conventional metal can and 7 the side thereof. This can is provided in its side and near the upper end thereof with a circumferential tear strip indicated at 8. It will be understood that the top 6 fits within and is enclosed by that portion of the body which contains the tear strip, so that removal of the strip will liberate the top so that access may be had to the interior of the container.

This tear strip 8 is usually defined by the spaced weakened lines indicated at 9 which are parallel with one another throughout the circumference of the can body. As will be understood, this strip terminates in a tab (not shown) which is to be engaged in a slot (also not shown) in the stem of the usual Winding key indicated at 10.

The guide member comprises a body of thin relatively fiat metal indicated at 11 and which assumes generally a rectangular shape in plan. This body is provided with a pair of longitudinally disposed parallel arms 12 projecting from one end thereof, the space 13 between the inner edges of said arms being slightly wider than the breadth of the tear strip 8. The extreme forward ends of the arms 12 are upturned or curled so as to provide barrels or bearings 14 disposed in transverse alignment with one another. in the preferred form of the invention, these barrels are not entirely closed but provide spaces 15 of a width greater than the thickness of the shank of the key 10, in order that the latter may be applied to or removed from the barrels or bearings as desired. However, in some instances it may be found desirable to provide guides to be used but once and then discarded, in which event the barrels will be entirely closed or devoid of gaps, as shown in Fig. 6.

The body 11 is provided on its undersurface with an inwardly or downwardly projecting tongue or prong 16, preferably struck from or formed integral with the body. This prong is of sufi'lcient breadth to fit within the space of metal provided by the removal of the tear strip 8 and performs the function of a follower or guide to maintain the longitudinal aris of the body in true parallisrn with the tear strip. it is preferred that the body of the guide member be curved longitudinally with the curvature struck from a diameter less than the diameter of the can body in order to insure the prong 16 falling properly within the recess formed by the removal of the tear strip as the body progresses around the can. This is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 5.

The preferred construction of the invention illustrates the prong 16 as struck from the body 11 immediately in the longitudinal axis of the guide body and inwardly from the ends of the latter, however, it is within the spirit and scope of the invention to locate this guide prong at the extreme rear end of the body 11 as indicated at 17 in Fig. 4 of the drawings. A further modification is disclosed in Fig. 7, wherein the prong 19 comprises a detent struck from the longitudinal center of the plate 11 by providing spaced parallel longitudinally disposed incisions in the metal.

In operation, the guide plate or body is applied to the side of the can with the stem of the key 10 disposed transversely thereof and rotatable within the barrels 14. The upstanding tongue of the tear strip is then engaged in the slot in the key which is disposed between the legs 12 and aligned with the recess 13, after which the winding operation proceeds. As the strip is removed or torn from the container side along the weakened lines 9 by this winding operation, the coil will build up firmly upon the key and increase in size as the winding progresses. trailing prong 16, 17 or 19 as the case may be, seats in the channel caused by the removal of the guide strip and assists in maintaining the space .13 in true alignment with the tear strip 8 and at the same time maintaining the barrels 14 at true right angles to the tear strip. In this manner the coil, indicated at 18 in Fig. l, is built up properly upon the key stem and is held against lateral movement in either direction, insuring against toppling of the coil or snarling of the strip. At the com pletion of the opening operation, the key with the :coil wrapped tightly thereon may be readily removed or withdrawn from the aligned barrels 14, the spaces v15 permitting this ready withdrawal. In instances Where the barrels are closed, as shown in Fig. .6, the guide plate with the key and metal coil wrapped therearound will be discarded.

By constructing the guide member in the manner stated, it is apparent that the several objects of the invention are .readily obtained. It is preferred that the guide member be made of relatively thin yet durable metal so that .it may not be readily bent or distorted to such extent as to preclude its further and continued use in other can opening operations.

I claim:

In a tear strip guide, a substantially flat longitudinally curved body, a pair of spaced arms projecting from the forward end of said body, said arms having spaced parallel inner edges disposed equidistant from the longitudinal axis of said body and providing a space between them to straddle the tear strip, barrels at the forward ends of said arms in alignment transversely thereof to rotatably support a strip winding key, a guide prong projecting inwardly from the concave side of said body adjacent to the rear end thereof, said prong having a forward face disposed transversely of said body with its medial portion disposed in said longitudinal axis with its ends respectively terminating adjacent to straight lines projected from the inner edges of said arms, whereby said guide prong falls into and conforms generally to the transverse width of the space provided by the winding of said tear strip on said key.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,939 Moore Dec. 3, 1901 

